The Wait
by LovestoRead2013
Summary: Deeks keeps watch over Kensi while she's comatose. Inspired by recent episodes since Kensi's been back in Los Angeles. Story COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**The Wait**

The NCIS work day was over, but for Deeks his real job these days – sitting with Kensi – was only beginning. He'd insisted that Julia, Kensi's mom, go home and rest. The poor woman was on the verge of collapse.

"I got this, Julia," said Deeks as he picked up her purse and sweater.

"But . . ."

"No buts. Kensi and I are a team. We'll get through this."

Julia took one last look at her daughter and patted her arm. "Yes you are and you're a very good team."

Deeks stepped closer and enveloped her in a hug. "Go. You can't be strong for our girl if you're all run down."

Julia left and Deeks pulled a chair close to the bed. He picked up Kensi's left hand and gently rubbed it. It looked strangely bare without the diamond.

 _She doesn't even know she has an engagement ring._ He thought about what the doctor had told them:

 _Talk to her. Touch her. She hears you, even if she can't respond. But when she comes out of this, she'll remember that you were here._

Deeks sighed and studied Kensi for a moment. She seemed to be resting comfortably. IVs and monitors dripped and beeped as before. He couldn't detect any improvement. He reached up and touched her hair. "Baby, your hair is a fright and I know you'd hate that. Tomorrow when I come I'll bring your brush and see if we can make some sense of it. I'm sure that'll make you feel better."

He sat back. "Yeah. Okay, where to begin? Today Nell went out with me. Now when I say _went out_ , I don't mean like on a date. Just wanted to clarify that because you know, Nell and Eric have their thing, like we have _our_ thing and Sam and Callen, well, there's just Sam and Callen. Their thing is like two guys on a cross-country road trip. Anyway, you know I love our Nell-a-saurus, but I gotta say, her driving is every bit as scary as yours." He shuddered involuntarily as he remembered some of the close calls they'd had. "No wonder I couldn't eat all day."

"You should have seen her. Talking tough, leaping over bannisters, delivering the smackdown to the perps. Bam!" Deeks paused and grinned. "Yep, I was proud of her. She even got to dress up as a mailman, uh, mail lady? Mail delivery person? Whatever. You know what I mean. She delivered a note to the bad guys. That was awesome! I wish you could have seen it. Though I don't know how Eric managed all day in Ops without her. For that matter, how did he manage _before_ Nell came on board? Guess we can ponder that another day."

The door opened and Jerry, one of the evening nursing assistants came in. He nodded at Deeks. "Hey, man. What's up?"

"Nothing. No change."

"Sometimes it takes a while for people to come out of the fog." He proceeded to check the monitors and make notes on his iPad. He looked at Deeks and felt sorry for him.

 _The guy's here every evening after work and never takes his eyes off her._

Jerry reached in his pocket and pulled out a small plastic container. "Want some Jello? The cafeteria sent up some extras."

Deeks looked up and saw that it was green Jello. He couldn't help but laugh. "You know, I think I would. Thanks."

Jerry reached in his other pocket and found a plastic-wrapped spoon.

"I guess you're wondering what's so funny about green Jello," said Deeks. "I'm a cop and one time after I got shot, Kensi was sitting with me in the hospital and she had the nerve to eat my green Jello. I was going to eat it eventually, but she beat me to it. Can you believe that? She even gloated about it."

Jerry laughed, too. "Yeah, I can picture her doing that."

Deeks tore off the wrappers and spooned up a mouthful. "Guess we're even now, Kensalina."

"I bet she's a feisty one," said Jerry.

Deeks nodded. "You have no idea."

"So we're going to do everything we can to bring her back to you," said Jerry.


	2. Words to the Wise

**Chapter 2 – Words to the Wise**

Jerry straightened Kensi's covers and studied the anxious look on Deeks' face. "Keep the faith, man. I've seen patients a lot worse wake up and be just fine. In fact, one guy was in a coma for six months and was pissed when he woke up and realized he'd missed the NBA playoffs."

Deeks looked up in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Luckily, his brother had recorded it for him, so it was all good."

"Wow. In that case, I should go home and record "America's Next Top Model" for Kensi. That's her favorite show."

"Do it. She'll love you even more."

"I will. Thanks for the tip."

"No problem," said Jerry as he moved off to check his next patient.

For the next few minutes, Deeks sat quietly with his eyes glued to Kensi's various monitors. He figured as long as things beeped and squiggly lines went up and down, everything was good. Then he yawned and ran a hand through his hair.

"Hmm. Might be time for a little trim. But don't worry, princess, nothing too extreme." Suddenly, he remembered something from earlier in the day.

"Hey, did I ever tell you about the time Ray and I streaked through Mrs. Newsome's yard?" He paused to see if there was any response from Kensi, but sadly there wasn't.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. Anyway, Mrs. Newsome was our history teacher. When Nell and I were out today, I saw a woman who reminded me of Mrs. Newsome. Hell, maybe it was her. I don't know."

"Anyway, we were in the tenth grade and Ray stole some of his old man's beer and we drank it. We were feeling pretty bold and Ray suggested we streak through Mrs. Newsome's back yard. He had no love for her and wanted to shock her. Well, the joke was on us. As we ran around the corner of the house into the back yard, we realized too late they were having a kid's birthday party and some of our other teachers were there. I got a fleeting glimpse of Miss McClain, the English teacher. I had a crush on her. She was tall and had long dark hair."

He paused and grinned. "Like you Kens. Guess I've always had a type. But on with the story. Kids were screaming 'They're naked, they're naked' and then two large dogs were chasing us. I stumbled and fell into a neighbor's rose bush. I was picking thorns out of my dumb ass for a week. Ray tripped over an exposed tree root and hit his head. Probably had a concussion, but we weren't about to tell our moms."

He stopped and noticed that Kensi's brow was furrowed. "Are you getting this, Kensi? I like to think that somewhere in there you're laughing at my crazy story, saying it served me right for listening to Ray." He stood up and massaged her forehead and kissed it lightly. "You shouldn't frown because you'll get wrinkles and then you'll need Botox."

He sat down with a heavy sigh. "We'll probably have a kid who does the same thing . . . or worse." He gave a hollow chuckle. "But I need you to wake up so we can get started on that because, you know, that requires my sperm and your egg to get together."

As much as Deeks liked to talk, there came a time when even he ran out of things to say. He put his head down on the bed beside Kensi's arm.

Some time later, a hand jostled his shoulder.

"Mr. Deeks. You look like hell."

Deeks head snapped up. "Huh? I must have dropped off for a minute." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Nurse Eileen loomed over him with a critical eye. "Try an hour. When did you last eat?

"Eat? I don't know. Breakfast, I guess, if you don't count Jello."

"Well, you should get a bite before the cafeteria closes. Go on. I'll stay with her until you come back."

"I'm okay," protested Deeks.

"No, you're not. Now get up and go. That's an order."

They stared at each other for a long minute. Finally, Deeks pushed to his feet. "Yes, ma'am. But you'll call me. . ."

"Yes, I'll call you if there's any change. Oh, and don't eat the Salisbury steak. It's crap."

"Copy that."

When Deeks returned from the cafeteria, Nurse Eileen was back at the nurse's station. Her face was red and she pointed toward Kensi's room. "A bossy little woman came and threw me out of the room. Said she would sit with Ms. Blye." She folded her arms over her massive chest. "Of all things!" she huffed. "I'm the charge nurse on this unit. Who does she think she is? She even hinted she knew Dr. Todd, the Chief of Neurology."

Deeks laughed. "That would be Hetty Lange and no doubt she does. She has a lot of friends in high places and she's not a woman to be trifled with."

"Well, I never!" she snorted and turned back to her computer.

Kensi's door was slightly ajar and Deeks heard Hetty talking in a low voice. "Our Mr. Deeks has a colorful past. Even I was not aware of the streaking escapade."

In the hall, Deeks shook his head. _What? She heard that?_

Through the crack, he could see her standing beside the bed, holding Kensi's hand. "Now my dear, you must make every effort to wake up. I know it's not easy, but you must give it 200 per cent. Your expertise is needed in Ops and Mr. Deeks especially needs you back. Oh, he tries to hide his distress behind jokes and silly stories, but he's really worried about you. And I'm worried about him. I don't know how much longer he can cope."

Deeks leaned against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. Hetty was right. Everyday Kensi laid there without visible improvement, Deeks felt his grip on the situation crumbling. If he couldn't hold it together at work, the whole team was in jeopardy. The last thing he wanted to do was put his teammates at risk.

 _There has to be something more I can do to help Kensi. But I'll be damned if I know what it is._


	3. Special Visitor

**Chapter 3 – Special Visitor**

"Hetty, what are you doing here?" asked Deeks. He tried to sound alert and upbeat, but it was a real effort.

"Checking on my people, of course."

Deeks risked a quick glance at Kensi. "Well, as you can see, there doesn't seem to be any change."

"Oh, I don't know about that. She squeezed my hand quite forcefully just a minute ago."

Deeks' eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Go on, try it."

"Why not," he shrugged. He stepped closer and picked up Kensi's left hand. There was an IV in the back of her hand with bruising around the site. Her dazzling engagement ring should have been there instead of this ugly tubing. "Okay, Kensi. Squeeze my hand. Give it all you've got."

At first, there was a hesitant squeeze, then she responded with a death grip. Deeks yelped. "Whoa, princess! Now that's what I'm talking about!" He looked at Hetty. She had a smile on her face that said _I told you so._

"Do it again, Kens," he urged. She did and Deeks struggled to free his hand.

Hetty chuckled. "I believe she's made her point."

"No kidding," said Deeks as he massaged his hand.

"Well Hetty, thanks for coming by. I got it from here. See, I have a blanket and I stole one of Kensi's pillows."

Hetty shook her head and frowned. "No, Mr. Deeks, you are going to go to _your_ house and sleep in _your_ bed. One cannot get a proper night's sleep curled up in a chair like a pretzel. I shall keep watch tonight."

Deeks was about to argue the point, but ultimately knew Hetty was right. His neck and back had been taking a beating night after night.

He sighed. "I appreciate it, Hetty."

"You're welcome. Now off with you." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "I have plenty to keep me busy." She pulled her laptop out and settled in the chair Deeks usually sat and slept in.

He bent down and kissed Kensi's cheek. "I love you, Fern. See you tomorrow."

After Deeks left, Hetty kicked off her shoes and propped up her feet. "Now Ms. Blye, let me tell you about the time in Prague when I had to escape out a sixth floor hotel room window clad only in a rather skimpy bath towel." Hetty chuckled to herself at the memory. "It was a freezing mid-December night and the secret police . . ."

 **The Next Day**

There was no case so the team spent the morning catching up on other tasks. For Deeks that meant tackling a mountain of paperwork. Callen and Sam had to requalify on their weapons and Eric and Nell were struggling with some thorny software issue up in Ops.

Deeks hated paperwork under the best of circumstances and without Kensi to goad him along it was even worse. There was no one to eat donuts with or yell at him for tapping his pencil on the desk. He looked across at her desk and briefly entertained the idea of straightening it up.

Eric bounded down the stairs and saw him staring. "Not a good idea, dude. She'll kill you if you touch anything."

"You're right. I can't stand seeing that empty space. I just want her to come back."

Eric hardly knew what to say. "She will and she'll be the old Kensi we know and love."

Deeks distractedly pulled at his hair. "I hope so. I have to keep telling myself that."

There was an awkward moment of silence. "Hey, Nell and I are going to see her after work."

"Thanks, man. I'm sure she gets tired of hearing me talk all the time."

"Nah, I doubt it."

"Eric, I found something," called Nell from the landing.

"Okay, be right there." He turned to go.

"Eric."

He turned back to Deeks. "Yeah?"

"Don't take your partner for granted. You never know when some bad shit will happen."

Eric nodded. "I hear you. I always appreciate Nell." He paused as a thought came to him. "Well, maybe not when she's beating me on the shooting range."

"Beale, get your butt up here now!" yelled Nell.

"Yes, dear," he called back and sprinted up the stairs.

Finally, Deeks got up and gathered the scattered pens and pencils on Kensi's desk and put them in the pencil holder on the right side. For good measure, he sharpened a couple of the dull pencils.

"Better," he mumbled and returned to his desk.

At lunch, Deeks went to the hospital. In the lobby, he had to pause as a parade of dogs and handlers passed in front of him and out the front door. There were large, shaggy dogs, small prissy ones and everything in between. "What's going on?" he asked a housekeeping guy mopping up a spill.

"That's the therapy dogs. They come to the pediatric unit every Tuesday. The kids love them and it calms them down."

Deeks almost smacked his forehead. "Therapy dogs. Of course. Do they visit other units?"

"Sure, but it has to be scheduled ahead of time."

Deeks nodded. "Good to know."

On Kensi's floor, everything was in an uproar. A couple nurses were out with food poisoning and a water pipe had broken in the break room and flooded the hall. Suddenly, "CODE BLUE, NEURO ICU, ROOM 412, CODE BLUE, NEURO ICU, ROOM 412!" rang out over the intercom.

Deeks flattened himself against the wall as the code team dashed by with the crash cart. Thankfully, the emergency was at the opposite end of the hall from Kensi's room. He wanted to ask someone about the therapy dogs, but the only person at the nurse's station was the frazzled clerk. "No, the break room's down this hall," she yelled at the maintenance guys and pointed around the corner.

Suddenly, he saw Jerry from the evening shift exiting the elevator. He threw up a hand. "Hey, Jerry. You're here early."

"Deeks. Yeah, they called me in because of all the craziness. How's Kensi?"

"I haven't even made it to her room yet."

"Okay. Look, I gotta get moving."

"I don't want to hold you up," said Deeks. "But if you get a minute, I want to run something by you."

"Sure thing." Jerry sprinted to the nurse's station, threw his backpack behind the desk and grabbed a stethoscope.

Deeks had remembered to bring Kensi's brush and set to work on her hair. When he encountered a tangle, her face scrunched up as if in pain. "Oh sorry, babe. Guess this wasn't one of my better ideas." He laid the brush aside and tried to separate the twisted strands by hand.

"I've been working on paperwork today. It's a drag, but it's tolerable when you're there to nag me. I'd rather kick down some doors and zip tie perps than sit at that desk all day, but it is what it is." He checked his watch. "I better get back. But I'll see you tonight."

In the hall, there were still a lot of confusion and people running around. He didn't see Jerry anywhere. _Maybe tonight I can talk to him._ Suddenly, his cell phone rang.

"Go, Callen."

"Deeks, I hate to pull you away from the hospital, but we have a case and need all hands."

"No problem. Kensi's stable and her mother should be here soon. What's the case?"

"Three marines are missing from Pendleton. Their commanding officer isn't sure if they went AWOL or were kidnapped. A wrecked car was found in an industrial park with a lot of bloodstains and one of the marine's driver's license."

"Wow. Okay, I'm leaving now."

Hours later, the team was still investigating the case. Having actual work had energized Deeks. He was talking a mile a minute. Finally, Callen shared a look with Sam, who nodded slightly.

"Deeks."

"What?"

"There's not much more we can do tonight. Go back to the hospital and be with Kensi."

"But . . ."

"But nothing. Just go. We're fine here."

Deeks looked from Callen to Sam to Nell and Eric. "Go on, Deeks. We'll see you tomorrow," said Sam.

The elevator doors opened on Kensi's floor and Deeks cautiously looked out. All appeared peaceful and quiet. Jerry and a couple nurses were at the desk and Jerry smiled when he saw Deeks.

"Kensi's mom just left."

"Yeah, I called her from work and told her I was on the way. Do you have a minute?"

"Sure." Jerry got up and came around to the front of the desk. "What's on your mind?"

"Walk with me," said Deeks. As they headed toward Kensi's room, Deeks laid out the idea that had been bouncing around in his head all day.

"I don't know, man. I could get in a lot of trouble. I'm not Eileen's favorite person right now. Last week I spilled some coffee in the break room and apparently didn't get it all wiped up. Eileen came in after me, slipped and busted up her tail bone. No doubt she curses me every time she goes to sit down."

Deeks pulled a face. "Big ouch. Listen, I'll take full responsibility if something goes south. I have to do something, anything, to try to help Kensi. She's already been in that damn bed too long."

Jerry stood there debating the plan for what seemed like an eternity. At last he sighed. "All right, Deeks. I'll help you because I like you and I see how devoted you are to Kensi."

Deeks sagged in relief. "Thanks, Jerry. I'm positive this will make a difference."

Jerry glanced over his shoulder to be sure no one overheard him. "Okay, this is how we should do it."

The case of the three missing marines kept Deeks and the team busy until after nine o'clock the following evening. Deeks called Jerry when he left the Mission.

"Be there in about twenty minutes."

"Okay. Come to the loading dock and flash your lights. My buddy Carl will meet you there and show you where the freight elevator is."

"Roger that."

After making one quick stop, Deeks pulled into a parking space at the loading dock. Two guys stood there taking a smoke break. Deeks flashed his headlights and the taller guy threw up a hand. The shorter man ground out his cigarette and went back inside.

Deeks turned to his backseat passenger. "We're here, Monty." Monty gave a short bark. "Now you have to be real quiet until we get to Kensi's room. We don't want to cause trouble for anybody." He reached back and patted Monty's head.

Deeks and Monty went up the steps to the loading dock. "Carl?"

"That's me. Oh, Jerry brought this to, uh, camouflage your friend." He handed him a reflective vest. Deeks took one look and laughed. "Really?" He bent and secured the vest, clearly not made for a canine, around Monty.

"Not the best fit, but it'll do for our purposes."

Up on the floor, Jerry was returning from his dinner break. He turned the corner and got a shock. "Eileen! I thought you were off tonight."

Eileen snorted. "I was supposed to be, but then I found out my husband was having his poker game at our house tonight. I couldn't deal with those fat, belching old men and their cigars. Ugh!"

 _Oh boy. This throws a kink into our plan._

"Eileen, can you check this monitor. I'm not sure if it's working right," asked one of the new nurses.

Jerry turned away and quickly called Deeks. "We have a problem. Don't come up yet. Eileen's here. She wasn't supposed to be working tonight. I need to distract her."

"Not good," said Deeks and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"What?" asked Carl.

Deeks briefly explained. Carl nodded and looked around the storeroom. "I know how we can distract the old girl. Call Jerry and tell him his distraction is coming right up."

Five minutes later, a large pallet stacked high with cases of saline rumbled toward the nurse's station. "Evening, Eileen. Is this your saline?" asked Carl in all innocence.

Eileen looked up from the computer. "What? Why are you delivering supplies in the middle of the night?"

"This is delivered late this afternoon and the day shift guys didn't have time to bring it up."

"Oh good grief. Let me see that paperwork," said Eileen with annoyance. "I don't think we're expecting such a large shipment."

While Eileen was arguing with Carl, Deeks and Monty slipped from around the corner and hurried toward Kensi's room. Jerry saw them as he was coming out of another patient's room and nodded. Deeks pointed to the vest and gave a thumbs up.

"Hi, Kens. Did you have a good day?" Deeks gently stroked her cheek. "Can you squeeze my hand?"

Her grip was not as strong tonight. "I know physical therapy came to see you today so I guess you're just tired. But I have a surprise for you - a special visitor."

Monty came forward to nudge and lick her hand. Deeks waited breathlessly to see what happened. Kensi's hand began to move as she petted Monty's head.

Without warning, Monty jumped up on the bed and put his head on Kensi's chest. "Easy, buddy. She has a bum leg."

But somehow Monty sensed Kensi was not well and laid quietly as her hand moved over him. He whined softly and licked her face.

Then it happened. Her eyes opened and she looked at them. Deeks' jaw dropped. "Kensi! Princess, you're awake!"

Kensi continued to look from Monty to Deeks and back again as if trying to process what has happening.

For a moment Deeks was worried. "You, you know who we are, don't you?"

"Of . . . course. Deeks, Monty."

Deeks almost collapsed from relief. "Right. We're your family. Well, along with our moms."

There was a soft knock on the door and Jerry stuck his head in. His face lit up when he saw Kensi was awake. "Hey, Kensi. Welcome back!"

"Jerry," she said.

"Yeah, I'm Jerry." He high-fived Deeks. "Awesome, man! It worked."

The door opened and Eileen burst in. "Jerry, I need you to . . ." She stopped short when she saw Monty on the bed. "What is going on here? How did this dog get in here?"

Deeks stepped forward. "Monty is a therapy dog. It was my idea to bring him in tonight. Don't blame Jerry. I take full responsibility for breaking any hospital rules."

Eileen glared at Deeks and Jerry. "I was not aware that therapy dogs visited after 9 p. m." She pulled her glasses down from the top of her head and peered at the vest. "Or that they worked at the Los Angeles County Dept. of Water and Sewers."

Kensi's eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Eileen's eagle-eyed gaze missed nothing. "How are you feeling, Ms. Blye?"

"Good."

"I'm glad to hear that. Apparently, dogs can multi-task like people do." She studied Monty for a moment. "Just be sure this _therapy dog_ is out of the unit before shift change or heads may roll." With that warning, Eileen swept out of the room. Deeks and Jerry laughed nervously and Kensi gave them a small smile.

"What the hell?" said Deeks. "Don't worry. If the authorities come down on you, my boss can pull some strings."

"You mean that scary little woman?"

"That's the one."

Jerry gasped. "She's almost scarier than Eileen."

Shortly before 11 p.m., Deeks and Monty crept out of Kensi's room, rode the freight elevator down to the loading dock and slipped out. "It was a great night, wasn't it, Monty?" said Deeks as they drove home.

At the same time, Jerry plucked up his courage and approached Eileen. "You gonna write me up for the dog incident?"

Eileen looked up from her computer. "What dog? I don't see a dog anywhere."

This was too good to be true. Jerry slowly backed away from the desk. "Right. Guess I'll go exchange that linen cart now."

"Excellent idea, Jerry."

A week later Kensi was back home with Deeks and Monty. The moms had brought several casseroles over and fussed over Kensi all afternoon, but now they were gone.

Kensi, Deeks, and Monty were settled on the couch in their usual places. "It's good to be home," said Kensi as she leaned back against Deeks.

"I second that." Deeks tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. "I'm beat."

"Uh, Deeks. Wasn't there a question you were going to ask me?"

"Question? Oh, do you want more quiche or another slice of pie?"

She snorted and jabbed his ribs. "No and no. Can't you think of any other question?"

There was a long silence. "Maybe." He reached behind his back and pulled out a small box. "Kensi Marie Blye, will you marry me? Is that the correct question?"

Kensi gave a little squeak of delight. "Yes and yes!"


End file.
